


I'm probably dead but I'm fine

by literallynoonecares



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Ben Loves Her Anyway, Camping, Cunnilingus, Established Relationship, F/M, Hospital, New Girl au, Non-Serious Medical Issue, Rey Accidentally Poisons Ben, Rey Has No Idea What She's Doing, Rey is a Well-Intentioned Idiot, Thanksgiving, Vaginal Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:22:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27799912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/literallynoonecares/pseuds/literallynoonecares
Summary: Based upon the Thanksgiving III episode from New Girl.Rey panics that she’s getting lost in her relationship with Ben and makes their friends go camping on Thanksgiving. Instead of a normal experience, she declares that they have to hunt and forage their own food to prove something.It turns into chaos and a medical emergency when Ben tries to prove how much he loves her by eating some of the “cooking” Rey “hunted”.
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 5
Kudos: 35
Collections: Who's that ship? It's Reylo!





	I'm probably dead but I'm fine

Poe bursts into Rey’s room where she lounges on her bed, scrolling on her laptop. 

“What?” Rey asks. 

Poe flips his phone so she can see it. It’s Rey and Ben’s Thanksgiving invite. A photoshopped picture of Rey and all the guys heads photoshopped onto turkey heads. It’s animated and cute. 

“What the hell is this?” Poe asks. 

“Our Thanksgiving invite,” Rey says, offended.

“It’s ridiculous.”

“What do you mean?”

“Rey,” Poe’s eyes narrow, a skeptical glance on his face. 

“We’re hosting Thanksgiving!”

“Yeah, but you’ve absolutely lost yourself since you and Ben got together.”

“What? I have not!”

“You even went as each other for Halloween,” Poe reminds her. 

“Everyone thought that was fun,” she replies. 

“You’ve lost yourself.”

“I have not!”

“You would have never sent out a joint Thanksgiving invite before you got together. Especially not one that looked like this,” Poe insists. 

“I think it’s cute,” Rey defends. 

“You would have never done it before. And remember Thanksgiving last year?” 

“I try not to.”

“It was a _disaster_. And now we’re going to host a dinner party?”

“I thought it would be fun,” Rey says. 

“This will absolutely end badly,” Poe replies. 

🏕🏕🏕

Rey lays in bed that night and thinks about what Poe said -- he’s right in that Rey and Ben have been almost inseparable and maybe she did lose herself a bit. 

Ben comes in the room and flops on the bed, planting a kiss on her cheek. 

“What are you thinking about?” Ben asks her, pulling her close to him and cuddling her tightly. 

“Just Thanksgiving,” she says. 

“What about?”

“I’m just worried it’ll turn out like last year,” she replies. 

“ _Nothing_ will turn out like Thanksgiving last year. I promise.”

“Poe thinks--“ 

Rey stops in the middle of her sentence. It’s better to not start a fight. 

“--Never mind. Sorry. I’ve just had a long day,” she yawns. 

“Mmm, I can make you feel better,” Ben asserts, voice low and heavy with want. 

“Yeah?” Rey asks, goading him a little bit. 

“Of course. I know how to make you feel better always,” he says. 

“Do you think we’re losing ourselves in each other?” Rey asks, her voice quiet and still.

He laughs and she frowns.

“Oh, Rey. Come on,” he says. 

Her frown turns into a pout -- she knows exactly what she’s doing to him. 

“I think I’m going to get lost in _something_ tonight,” he says with a dark glimmer in her eye that sends a thrill down her spine. 

He straddles her legs and starts to kiss her neck, moaning against her skin. She writhes underneath him. He pins her down more and practically growls.

He grasps at the edges of her shirt and she takes the hint, taking it off and tossing it off the bed. He starts to move his kisses lower down her body. Gentle kisses between her breasts and then he starts to kiss down her stomach. 

He takes off her pajama shorts and she’s not wearing underwear. He spreads open her thighs and she gasps a little.

“You’re already wet for me,” he says almost hoarsely in between kisses on her thighs. 

He trails his fingers across her entrance and traces a few lazy circles around her clit. She cants her hips toward him and whines.

He settles his hands at her hips and presses firmly at her side. He replaces his fingers with his tongue and sucks on her clit. She bucks her hips again and he pins down her hips even harder. 

His tongue swirls against her clit as he begins to finger her. He keeps a steady rhythm, bringing her close to climax quickly. She wriggles beneath him. 

“Stop moving, sweetheart,” he says against her cunt. 

“Ben,” she pants. 

He brings her to orgasm easily, her body shaking under his touch. She closes her eyes so tightly she begins to see stars and she only comes around when she feels his mouth leave her cunt. 

He kisses her and moves so he lays next to her. She turns on her side, facing away from him.

He curls his body around hers and takes out his cock. He lifts up one of her legs and slides inside her. He thrusts slowly and languidly, kissing the back of her neck and moaning her name. 

She comes for a second time on his cock, her fingers rubbing her clit. 

He comes inside her with a final thrust and collapses beside her. 

She rolls off the bed and throws on enough clothes to be decent to make it to the bathroom. When she flips on the light, she opens her phone and googles “best ideas for non-traditional thanksgivings”. The first response is camping and she stops to consider it. 

She doesn’t fully love the idea of camping, but she thinks it might appease the boys more. She starts to run the plan through her head -- they could easily go to a state park hours away. There’s no reservations required for campsites. It could be the getaway she wants and something different for them all. 

She resolves to ask the boys tomorrow. And she’s stubborn enough. She won’t take no for an answer. And if they do, she’ll just whine about it until they give in. 

When she returns, Ben’s passed out. She turns off the light and crawls under the covers next to him. She presses herself against him and kisses him on the cheek before falling asleep. 

🏕🏕🏕

In the afternoon, Rey gathers the boys on the couch. Ben sits between Finn and Poe and towers over them. Rey giggles to herself when she notices Ben realize and shrink down to try and even out the appearance. 

“Okay. I know historically Thanksgiving has not been great,” Rey says. 

“You can say that again,” Finn scoffs. 

Rey flashes back in her head to last year when Ben unknowingly hit on her mother -- and she gets a little lost in thought thinking about how much has changed in a year. 

“Anyway,” Rey clears her throat loudly, diverting the conversation back to her. 

“I’d like to do something different. I know I already sent out the invites, but I’ve been looking into it and I really want us to go camping for Thanksgiving.”

She grimaces like she’s bracing for them to freak out on her. 

“Camping?” Ben asks, confused. 

“Camping! There’s a state park three hours away. No reservations required. Come on, we can get drunk in nature,” she says to convince them. 

“I thought you hated nature,” Ben states. 

“Well, it’s time to try new things. Isn’t that what Thanksgiving’s about?” 

“Rey, I’ll give you a pass on this because you’re British, but no. It’s not,” Finn shakes his head. 

“Okay, but I still really want to do it. And then we don't have to worry about a bad Thanksgiving. We’ll be away from it all.”

“I guess I’m in,” Poe shrugs. 

“I knew you’d never say no to an adventure,” Rey says and beams at Poe. 

“Fuck it, I’m in too. I’ve never been camping. But I know I’ll be the best at it. I’ll be the best camper out of all of us,” Finn says. 

Poe laughs and Finn reaches across Ben to hit Poe. 

They fight each other until Ben separates them with a huff. 

Rey looks Ben dead in the eyes with the same pout from the night before.

“I’lll do it. I just want a nice holiday with you and our friends. So if you want to go camping, I’ll do it,” Ben says. 

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she replies, practically launching herself on his lap and kissing him everywhere. 

“God, you two are disgusting,” Finn says as he jumps off the couch, putting as much space as possible between him and the couple. 

🏕🏕🏕

“Rose and Hux are almost here,” Finn announces to the group, putting his phone back in his pocket. 

“Good! Now turn off your phone. I don’t want anything from the outside world influencing us,” Rey instructs. 

“I barely have service anyway,” Finn says. 

“I don’t have any at all,” Ben complains. 

“And that’s how it should be.”

“Okay, let’s unload the car,” Rey tells them, and they all get to work. Poe and Finn start setting up the camp chairs and tent while Ben unloads the rest of the supplies. 

Rey notices Poe pointedly not doing much to help Finn. 

“I’m the master camper,” Finn says through gritted teeth as he struggles with a tentpole. 

“I’m the best,” Finn tells himself. 

“You are. I don’t know anything. And you’re crushing it already,” Poe replies. 

Finn and Poe’s heads turn as Ben yelps. 

He nearly trips over himself as he unloads the cooler. 

“It’s so much lighter than I was expecting,” he offers as an explanation. 

“Oh, yeah,” Rey says. 

“Why is it so much lighter than I was expecting?”

“Ah, I wanted to share the surprise when Hux and Rose got here, too though.” 

“Surprise?” Poe asks, walking back toward the car. 

“I’d like to hear about the surprise now,” Ben says frustratedly. 

“Well, I thought we could really go for a rustic adventure. Prove ourselves in nature. Have a competition,” Rey explains. 

“And how are we going to do that?” Finn asks, jogging over to join the rest of the group. 

Rey opens the cooler to reveal nothing but beer. No ice. No food. Just beer. 

“What the hell?” Ben asks. 

They pause, turning around when they hear Hux and Rose park behind them.

“Hey guys!” Rose exclaims, hugging everybody. Hux nods at everyone and shifts uncomfortably when Ben claps his shoulder. 

“You’re just in time to hear Rey’s insane Thanksgiving plan. At least, I assume it’s insane,” Finn directs to Hux and Rose. 

“Oh great,” Hux says, sarcasm dripping. 

“Trust me, I’m not that happy about it either,” Ben commiserates. 

“Okay. So when I was thinking about Thanksgiving and how awful it’s been and how not true to the spirit of the holiday it’s been, I wanted to do something different.”

“Here we go,” Finn rolls his eyes. 

“Let her talk,” Rose insists. 

“Thank you, Rose. As I was saying--“ Rey shoots daggers at Finn who stops laughing. “--I wanted to give us a chance to prove ourselves. To beat Thanksgiving.”

“Beat Thanksgiving?” Finn asks. 

“Beat Thanksgiving,” she confirms, chest puffed out. 

“Where’s all the food, Rey?” Ben follows up. 

“At home,” she replies sheepishly. 

There’s a chorus of “what” what “oh my God” and Rey shushes them all. 

Ben interrupts though, and he looks _angry_.

“I spent hours cooking a turkey! And mashed potatoes! And pies! And you just _left it at home?_ ”

“Yes,” she replies. 

“Oh my God,” Ben says. He runs his hands through his hair and turns away from the group and tries to cool off. 

“We’re going to hunt and forage for our own food,” Rey tells them. 

“What the hell?” Finn asks. 

“It’s going to be an adventure. We’ll split up into groups.”

“I just wanted us to be together and have a nice Thanksgiving,” Ben bemoans.

“I can’t believe I agreed to come to this,” Rose says. 

“So we have no food. Just beer?” Poe asks. 

“Yes. You can’t hunt or forage alcohol,” Rey replies. 

“And you didn’t even bring ice?” Finn digs through the beer. 

“No,” she says. 

“Okay. So all we have is warm beer?” Poe corrects. 

“A nightmare,” Hux says. 

“Yes. Until we find our own food,” Rey closes the lid on the cooler. 

“This is a disaster,” Ben pulls out his phone and starts typing. 

“Don’t use your phone!” Rey scolds.

“I’m trying to find a grocery store or something -- but _fuck_ \-- I don’t have any god damn service,” Ben shoves his phone in his pocket. 

“Please don’t be mad. It’ll be a great Thanksgiving. Rose, Ben, Hux you’re going to be the foragers. Poe, Finn, and I will be the hunters.”

“This is absolutely unhinged,” Hux shakes his head. 

“You know what, fuck it,” Finn says, throwing his hands up. 

“That’s the spirit!” Rey’s face breaks into a beaming smile.

“I did want to be the best at camping. I think this is how I become the best,” Finn tells the group. 

“This is going to end well,” Ben sighs. 

“Let’s go!” Finn says, heading toward the thick of the woods. 

“We need to get supplies first,” Poe tells him. 

“Ugh. Fine,” Finn sits on the picnic bench at the campsite and waits for Rey and Poe to gather the supplies. 

Rose laughs at their sorry excuse for hunting gear -- a large knife attached to a pole. 

“We are never going to eat anything tonight,” Ben adds. 

Finn, Poe, and Rey make their way into the woods and Finn starts to make a bird calls or -- something. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Rey asks. 

“I don’t know. Trying to get birds?” 

“You think we’re going to eat birds?” Poe scoffs. 

“What do you think a turkey is?” 

“Boys! Stop fighting. We have to focus. And be quiet.”

“Fine,” Finn says loudly. 

Poe shushes him. 

“Okay, okay.”

It’s been almost an eternity until Rey realizes they’ve been walking in circles and have gotten nowhere.

“We’re going to be in here forever,” Poe complains. 

“No, we aren’t,” Rey pulls out a compass and leads them in a different direction.

“Don’t be scared, Poe. If something’s in here and you get injured, I promise I’ll kill you fast,” Finn says sincerely. 

“Oh, great. Thanks for that,” Poe replies. 

“It’s out of love,” Finn insists. 

Finn nearly steps in something on the ground and pauses. 

“There has to be an animal nearby. I’m going to set a trap,” Finn informs the group. 

“Great idea,” Rey affirms. 

It takes Finn about an hour to set an elaborate trap for who knows what -- and they walk away from it, trying to look for more. They reach a stream and Rey pulls out some dead fish from the stream. She puts them in a bag. 

“Just in case,” Rey explains to Poe who looks on in abject horror. 

When they reach the trap again, Finn’s going on and on about he’s the master camper. He doesn’t watch where he walks and gets caught in his own trap. He yelps in pain. 

“My arm! I think it’s broken,” he complains. 

“It’s okay, Finn. It’s okay. Don’t panic,” Rey places her hand on his uninjured shoulder, a soothing touch. 

“I was supposed to be the master camper!”

“You are, Finn. We’ll figure it out,” Rey says. 

“I can do it. I was a Boy Scout,” Poe admits. 

“You were what?” 

“A Boy Scout. I’ve been camping dozens of times. I didn’t want to make you feel bad. You were so excited about being the best at camping I didn’t want to hurt your feelings.”

Poe rips off a portion of his sleeve. He quickly fashions a splint for Finn. Finn backs away. 

“You lied to me!”

“I’m sorry. I wanted you to feel like you were the best. You are the best.” Poe inches toward Finn, torn sleeve in one hand as a peace offering. 

“I can’t believe you lied to me.”

“I’m sorry, Finn. Can I please help? I promise it’ll feel better,” Poe pleads. 

“Fine,” Finn says. He slumps and relaxes against a rock. Poe gingerly fashions a sling around his arm. 

“Does that feel better?” 

“It does. Thank you,” Finn replies. 

“You’re welcome. Now you can still be the best camper,” Poe says clapping Finn on his uninjured shoulder. 

“We’re not going to find any meat to cook in here, are we?” Rey collapses on the ground, defeated.

“Probably not, no,” Poe shakes his head, and sinks down on the ground next to Finn. 

“How the fuck do we get back, anyway?” Finn asks after there’s a long stretch of silence between the three. 

“Let’s hope you can read a compass better than I could, Boy Scout,” Rey teases Poe. 

“Oh, I definitely can.”

🏕🏕🏕

Hux, Rose, and Ben watch the other three take off into the woods with their ridiculous weapons and little else. 

“So we’re all agreed this is bullshit, right?” Hux asks. 

“Absolutely. Rey’s lost her mind,” Rose agrees. 

“I have no idea why she did this. She wanted this to be a _good_ Thanksgiving. I made all the food!” 

Rose gently touches him arm with sympathy. 

“And I’m sure it was great.”

“And now I have to fucking forage for what? Nuts? She’s lost it. She's the one who's nuts.” Ben looks and sounds defeated. 

He starts mindlessly walking toward the edge of the wood on the opposite side of to where the other trio ran off. 

“Ben!” Hux calls. 

“What?” Ben yells back. His voice cracks and he shakes his head. 

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Foraging!”

“Let’s just go to a store,” Hux insists.

Rose and Hux exchange a glance and jog over to him. 

“I have to try. I love Rey. She wants me to forage. I’m going to try,” Ben explains. 

“You’re sweet, Ben,” Rose says. 

“Whipped, more like,” Hux retorts. 

Ben jumps over a small shrubbery and finds something that looks like berries. He takes one in his hand and sniffs it. It’s rancid as hell. 

“Okay, fuck this.”

Ben tosses the berry down and walks back to the cars. 

“We are going to drive until one of us gets cell service and then we will find some sort of store. What we are _not_ going to do is tell Rey. We cannot tell Rey. It’ll crush her. So we’ll get like, I don’t know. Nuts and berries or what the fuck ever,” he says hopping in the front seat and unlocking the car. 

He turns the ignition and Rose and Hux get in the car. 

He peels out of the parking area too fast and Rose scolds him. 

“We have to be quick in case they get back soon,” Ben says. 

“Those three? In the woods? We’re lucky if we don’t have to call search and rescue by night fall,” Rose says. She crosses her arms and looks out the window. 

“God, you’re right,” Ben replies. 

The drive is quiet until Hux nearly screams that he finally has cell reception, and that there’s a small general store not too far from them that services all the nearby campsites. Ben plugs the address into the GPS. 

They clamor out of the car and head into the tiny store. There’s not much there, but they find some packages of nuts and berries they can use. 

“Rey can never know,” Ben reminds them. 

“We know,” Rose replies. 

“We’ll keep your dirty little secret, Solo. Don’t worry.”

🏕🏕🏕

It’s another hour after the foragers get back until the hunters emerge. 

The hunters definitely look worse for wear. 

“What the hell happened?” Rose asks, staring at Finn’s arm. 

“Got stuck in my own trap. Don’t ask,” Finn looks down. 

“I need a drink,” Poe announces. 

“Same.”

“Well, let’s start drinking these beers,” Rey says, opening the cooler and passing out drinks to everyone. 

“Oh, warm beer. My favorite.”

“So were the hunters successful?” Ben asks. 

“Don’t mock us,” Poe replies. 

“Not mocking. Just wondering if we’re going to have dinner,” Ben responds. 

“Well, then the answer is no. But I invite you to try and catch a squirrel or something yourself. It’s not easy,” Finn replies. 

“You wanted us to eat _squirrel_?” Rose’s jaw drops. 

“Well, what did you guys find?” Rey crosses her arms and her mouth falls in a thin line. 

“A few things,” Hux gestures to the spread on the picnic table. 

“Thank God. I’m starving,” Finn says, taking a handful of nuts in his hand. 

He chews for a moment. He pauses. 

“Are these garlic flavored?” 

“What?” Ben asks. 

“These nuts. They taste like garlic,” Finn repeats. 

“That’s impossible,” Rey says. 

“Taste it!” 

Rey shoves a few in her mouth and frowns. 

“Why do these nuts taste like garlic?” She turns on her heels to face Ben. 

“I -- uh --“ he stammers. 

“I think it’s native to this area,” Hux supplies. 

“Yeah fucking right,” Rey rolls her eyes. 

Poe looks into the trash bag and pulls out the packaging. 

“Ah, Blue Diamond. Definitely native to this area,” he laughs. 

“Holy shit. You went to a store?” Rey asks. 

“You didn’t leave us much of a choice. There is _nothing_ here. We all would have starved! Quite frankly, we’ll still probably starve because we cannot survive off this alone.”

“I can’t believe you’d do this, Ben. You knew how much this meant to me. And you didn’t even _try_.” Rey notices the distinct sting of tears behind her eyes. 

“Rey, I did. I promise. There were rotting berries on the shrubs over there. There was nothing else,” Ben croaks out. 

“And yet I didn’t run off to a fucking store. I wanted us to beat a bad Thanksgiving. But you’ve made it bad because you broke the rules!”

“The rules were ridiculous, Rey. I cooked an entire meal and you just didn’t bring it because why? You had this ridiculous idea for us to hunt and gather our own food? So you could prove something to yourself?” 

The rest of the group is silent, exchanging worried glances. 

“Are you _kidding_ me? I cannot believe you, Ben. You knew how much this meant to me. You knew I wanted us to have a Thanksgiving better than the disasters we’ve had before.”

Ben inhales and sighs deeply.

“Rey, let’s just go home.”

“No. Leave me alone.”

Rey rushes off. She grabs a few beers and the sack full of fish and finds a different campsite. She makes a fire and starts to cook the fish. She chugs the beers and cries. 

“Go after her, dude,” Poe says. 

“I don’t think she wants to see me.” Ben kicks at the dirt and doesn’t make eye contact with anybody. Ben finishes his beer and opens another one.

“Go,” Rose encourages him. 

“She’s so angry. I just...I just don’t know what the hell she was thinking,” Ben says. 

“I think she’s having a hard time. And Thanksgiving has historically been awful and she’s trying to do everything in her power to try and make it special. In her own, twisted one-of-a-kind Rey way,” Finn tells him. 

Ben looks up. 

“You’re right,” he acquiesces. 

“Go find her.”

“And bring her back so we can go home and eat real food,” Rose adds. 

Ben laughs and takes off in Rey’s direction. 

Ben stumbles upon a campfire a ways down the road and chuckles to himself when he sees Rey chug a beer and then crush the can. 

“Go away,” she snaps. He doesn’t. Instead, he moves next to her, scooting her body over on the log on which she’s perched. 

She opens another beer, and hands him one as a peace offering. 

He pops the tab open and takes a drink. He puts his arm around her and kisses the top of her head. She leans into him. It’s soft and she’s almost mad at herself for losing her willpower so quickly, but she can’t help it. 

“Rey, I love you so much. I do. I’m sorry,” he says, speech slurring and his face buried in her hair. 

“I know you are,” she slurs as well. 

“I know this was important to you. And I’m sorry we fucked it up. I was just angry.”

“I fucked it all up, didn’t I?”

“No, sweetheart. You didn’t. Look, we’re all together. We’re drunk. We might be starving, but who cares?”

“I care.”

“Okay. I’ll even eat whatever you found.”

Ben takes the fish off the pan with tongs and puts it in his mouth before Rey can stop him. 

He chews a bite before his face turns sour and Rey looks horrified. 

“Oh my God, Ben. No! Spit it out,” Rey says. 

“I want to prove I love you,” he says, taking another bite and choking down the disgusting fish. 

“It was dead when I cooked it, Ben! I was just being dumb and angry. Spit it out!”

His jaw drops and he spits out the rest of what’s in his mouth and screams. 

“What the fuck!”

“I tried to warn you. Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” Rey says. She tries to pull him into a hug but instead he runs away and dashes into the woods. 

“Ben, please! Don’t run away. You’re going to be sick,” she calls out but he doesn’t acknowledge her. 

“Fuck,” Rey groans as she puts out the fire and heads back to the others. 

🏕🏕🏕

  
“Guys!” Rey nearly collapses back at the group’s campsite, out of breath. 

“What?” Poe asks. 

“Ben. He -- he ate that dead fish. And he was so drunk. He ran off into the woods.”

“Fuck, Rey. Are you kidding?”

“No. Can we please go find him?” 

“Yes,” Finn says immediately. 

“We should split up,” Rose suggests. 

They gather flashlights as the sun has started to go down and take off into the woods. 

“Ben! Please! If you can hear me,” Rey yells. 

She hears choruses of “Bens” from her friends and she starts to panic. What if he’s passed out somewhere? What if he can’t breathe? What if he’s still throwing up? What if -- 

She stops herself. 

She yells his name again. There’s no response. Her heart is in her stomach and Finn tries to calm her down, but she barely processes what he says to her. 

She comes around when she notices Ben a ways away. She calls out to him again and sprints toward him. Finn follows, and yells for the rest to join them. 

She approaches Ben with caution. All the color is gone from his face. He looks more pale than she’s ever seen him. He’s stumbling over his long limbs, unable to control his body. 

His eyes are glazed over and he’s babbling nonsensically. 

“Ben?” Rey advances further. 

“No!” 

Ben takes off running. 

Well, as much _running_ as he can falling over himself. 

“Ben, please! Let me help you,” Rey pleads. 

Instead, he continues onward. And then he falls down. Into a hole that Rey thinks must have been some sort of animal trap. 

Rey lets out a blood curdling scream. 

She hears the rest of their friends running toward the pit. She doesn’t really think until she’s jumping in after him. She lands with a thud and rubs her ass as she gets up. She scrambles over to where Ben has fallen. 

“Ben?” 

“Rey...”

“You don’t look good,” she observes. 

“Where are we?”

“You fell in a hole.”

“What the fuck?”

“I know.”

“Rey! Are you guys okay?” Finn calls down. 

“We’re okay. Can you get us out of here?”

“We’ll figure something out,” Poe tells her. 

“Ben, I’m so sorry. You look awful. I’m worried about you. Did you throw up?” 

“I think I did. I don’t feel good. My head is spinning and I feel lightheaded. My stomach doesn’t feel good, either.”

“It’s okay, they’ll get us out of here and we’ll get you to a doctor.”

“I just wanted to prove that I love you. I didn’t want you to think I didn’t,” he slurs. 

“I always knew you loved me. I’m sorry I was so stubborn and hotheaded today. We should have just had a normal Thanksgiving. I just got worried we were getting lost in each other.”

“Maybe we were. I don’t think it’s a bad thing,” he says. He tries to raise his hand to her face but he can’t find it. She guides his hand to her face and holds it there. 

“I’m sorry, Ben. I really am.”

“I forgive you,” he says. 

“Have you guys figured out how to get us out of here?” Rey yells to the group. 

“Working on it,” Rose says, forcing the boys to take off their pants and making a pants rope. 

“This is humiliating,” Finn says. 

“We’re helping our friends _not_ die,” Hux replies. 

Rose ties off the last of the pants and tosses the rope down to Rey. 

“Ben, can you hold onto this for me? Can you help pull yourself up?” 

“I’ll try,” he replies, eyes blinking slow. 

He grasps the pants and the crew above the pit get into position and start pulling him. 

“He’s like 6’3” I cannot fucking believe we are pulling him. He’s giant,” Poe complains. 

“How the fuck is he so heavy? Is he just pure muscle?” Hux asks, struggling to pull the rope. 

“Great question,” Finn asks, tugging the rope tightly once and Ben pops up over the edge. 

They roll him away from the pit and Rose bends down to make sure he’s okay. 

He still mumbles incoherently, but he’s mostly fine. They pull Rey out of the pit with ease. It takes both Hux and Finn to lift Ben off the ground and he puts all his weight on them as they walk back to the cars. 

Finn drives Rey’s car as Rey sits in the backseat with Ben. She strokes his hair and forehead and kisses his head and tries to talk to him soothingly. 

The drive to the rural hospital feels like it takes forever. They won’t let them see Ben for a while, and Rey paces in the waiting room. 

Once they finally let her in, the rest of the group has left to find food. 

She curls up in a chair next to his bed and takes his hand in hers. Her hand is so much smaller than his, and even when he’s at his most frail he still engulfs her. 

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” she says in a small voice. 

“I’m glad you’re here,” he replies. 

“How are you feeling?” 

“Okay, all things Legionnaire’s considered.”

“I’m so sorry,” she says, her eyes genuinely sad and concerned. 

“I know. You didn’t mean for this to happen. You had only good intentions,” he says. 

The rest of their friends crash into the room before she can respond. 

“We have ramen, nuts, doritos, and other variety of random items from the vending machines,” Hux says as he places their bounty of the foot of Ben’s bed.

“Delicious,” Finn commentates. 

“Happy Thanksgiving,” Poe says. 

“See, Rey? This is all I wanted. Our friends and food.”

Rey beams and he squeezes her hand. 

“Yeah, Rey,” Finn agrees. 

“Thanksgiving is a time of togetherness,” says Rose. 

“And dead fish,” Poe tries to stifle a laugh. 

“And dead fish,” Ben agrees, a smile on his face. 

“I heard dead fish is actually a Thanksgiving delicacy,” Finn laughs. 

“Hey! It’s not funny. Ben almost died,” Rey says defensively. 

“Sorry you almost killed your boyfriend, Rey,” Finn says, still laughing. 

“Yeah, but we’re never going to let you live this down,” Poe adds. 

“You guys are the worst,” Rey bemoans. 

“It’s okay, Rey. I forgive you for trying to kill me. I know I’m annoying,” Ben replies. 

“Stop!”

“But next year? We’re having a quiet, _normal_ Thanksgiving,” Ben insists, kissing her hand. 

**Author's Note:**

> comments + kudos greatly appreciated!


End file.
